Business Council Testimony on Executive Budget and Business Taxes

ALBANY, NY (02/10/2014)(readMedia)-- The Business Council of New York State, Inc. presented testimony today outlining how the adoption of the Executive Budget's business tax reform provisions will lower business tax burdens and produce significant job, income and economic benefits for the state.

"The strong economic impact of this tax reform package is due to tax reductions being targeted in industries with high economic multipliers, such as manufacturing, information, real estate and financial services, "said Kenneth Pokalsky, The Business Council's vice president of government affairs. "Our analysis shows that restructuring the tax code and lowering the basic tax rate would produce more than 14,000 new jobs by 2019, and almost 18,000 new jobs by 2024."

The Business Council supports key tax reform measures including modernizing and restructuring the corporate franchise tax, reducing the corporate franchise tax rate to 6.5 percent, the adoption of a 20 percent real property tax credit for manufacturers statewide. These measures are projected to provide approximately $560 million in directly employer tax relief when fully implemented.

The Business Council also supports the enhanced phase-out of the 18-A, a utility surcharge tax that can costs a small manufacturer several thousand per month and cost a large, energy intensive manufacturer $10,000 per month or more.

"Business tax reductions in these industries have strong spillover effects that increase employment and economic activity throughout the state's economy," continued Pokalsky.

The Business Council encouraged the legislature to support the Governor's business tax reform package.

Read The Business Council of New York State testimony online at www.bcnys.org.